ABSTRACT
Regional sports marketing, as defined by Hautbois and Desbordes, is the field of research that studies how sports contribute, directly or indirectly, to the promotion of a region. Regional brand-building strategies are fairly recent since they were mainly developed in the 2000s. Related publications highlight the diversity of desired objectives, of the idea men, the used mediums and the importance given to sports in the building of the regional brand or even its enrollment. Professional sports, including football, helps promote a positive image of Montpellier and its suburbs. Today, the regional brand clearly aspires to emancipate itself from the sports brand, by choice, but also by default. This chapter illustrates, using a qualitative, non-statistically representative approach, the notion of cohabitation between a sports brand and a regional brand. The sports brands were those of professional football clubs, while at the regional level, they were cities.
